Castle Meets The Parents
by rynni is happy
Summary: *spoilers for 3x09, but more AU-ish* I think that Beckett should've met Ashley's parents with Castle. But that's not how it happened. So I wrote that story. Please read! Castle/Beckett kind of


**Hey FanFiction readers, it's Rynni with her first ever Castle fic! I love this show so much; I live for Mondays. But there isn't going to be a new one until December! *sob sob* I don't think I'll live. **

**This is how I thought Castle's dinner with Ashley's parents should've gone in 3x09. But they didn't do it like this, no surprise. Castle and Beckett would've been too coupley. But that's what we FanFic writers love to write about. =)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the awesome show Castle. And that makes me sad. **

* * *

"What? I have to have dinner with Ashley's parents by myself?" Castle said in surprise.

Alexis, his teenage daughter, made a sympathetic look and replied, "Yeah. But don't worry. They'll love you. Just remember that they're more serious and...not you..."

"Gee. Thanks."

"Dad, it'll be okay. Gram will be here too," Alexis said. "Oh wait. Maybe you should tell her to be more serious and less dramatic."

"What about me being dramatic, darling?" Martha said, swooping into the Castle living room from upstairs.

"Ashley's parents want to meet Dad tomorrow for dinner and he's kind of scared because they're all serious. And, you know. He's not," Alexis explained.

"Well, as much as I would like to see that dinner, I have plans with Chet. We are going to the opera," Martha said.

"Ohhh but Mother! I don't want to be all alone when I meet them! They sound scary!" Castle whined. He turned around on his stool and put his head down on his hands on the kitchen counter.

"Well, maybe you can have Beckett over. I'm sure that she will fill us in on what happens," Alexis suggested. She and Martha looked at each other and nodded, as if to say, _of course_.

Castle picked his head up and looked like he got an idea. You could almost hear the gears turning to turn on the lightbulb.

"Well, seeing as we just planted an idea seed in your brain, I will be off and I'm sure Alexis has something to do tonight, so good night, darlings," Martha said and sashayed out the door.

Alexis walked over to her immature father and kissed his cheek. "Bye Dad, I have plans with Ashley tonight. Don't stress for too long. They're just normal people." She turned and got her bag before walking out the door.

_And then there was one_, Castle thought.

Within seconds, he was bored out of his mind with the quiet and lack of human company. He turned and looked around the room, his eyes landing on the phone.

Castle smiled and there was only one thing going through his mind. _Let's see what Miss Beckett has to do tomorrow night…_

He strode over to the phone, not once having a doubt, until he got to the phone. Then he faltered. What if she had plans? Or was out with some new guy? He really hoped that it wasn't the latter. He didn't know if he could handle it if she said that she had a date or something.

He dialed the number, pressing the buttons before he could wimp out.

"Hey, Beckett, what are you doing tomorrow night?"

* * *

Kate Beckett was halfway through a foot tall stack of paperwork when her phone rang. She eagerly grabbed it; anything to occupy her mind, instead of hours of boring paperwork.

"Beckett," she said.

"_Hey, Beckett, what are you doing tomorrow night?" _

"Castle, is this another one of your harebrained schemes to get me to buy you ice cream in the middle of my paperwork? Because that only worked once. Never again will I buy you ice cream when I am within a mile of you."

"_Jeez, one time you have a little too much sugar and your colleagues don't let you live it down. Ever. But anyhoo, no, I can buy my own ice cream, thankyouverymuch. No, Ashley's parents want to meet me but they are, like, all serious and boring and sticks in the mud and I don't want to be alone with them. So can you come to dinner and make sure I don't make a complete fool of myself, please?"_

"I don't know Castle. This case has a lot of paperwork, and we still don't know how Marie was killed, so I want to stay here in case we get a lead," Beckett said. Did she want to be there when the most immature adult she knew met his daughter's boyfriend's parents? Most likely, yeah. That would be awesome to watch.

"—_was killed by aliens, detective. You know that," _Castle said.

"Castle, sure. I will have dinner with you and the boring people you don't want to be alone with. This will be amusing."

"_Yay, thank you, Kate. And I will ignore that dig because I really don't want to meet them alone."_

"What time should I come over and what should I bring?"

"_Seven sound good? And nothing."_

"Castle, I will not come if I can't bring anything. I will be at your place at seven with dessert. We will be having homemade cookies."

"_Not your home, please. I've seen that Styrofoam temple in your fridge." _She could almost hear his smile.

"Shut up, writer boy, I'll buy them. I don't want to eat anything I make, either. I need to stay healthy, not dead."

He laughed. _"Til tomorrow, Beckett."_

* * *

The next day, Kate left the precinct early and went home to shower. She managed to make herself believe that she just wanted to make herself look good for Ashley's parents, not a certain mystery-writer-turned-pathetic-puppy-follower.

She smiled to herself. She stopped thinking that Castle was an annoyance about two months after she met him. _Hmm. Maybe I am in love with him as Lanie so politely pointed out about forty thousand times,_ she thought.

She changed into a comfortable blue top and dark jeans, grabbed her cookies, and left her apartment for Castle's dinner with the kind-of-in-laws.

Fifteen minutes later, she hopped out of a taxi and made her way up to Castle's loft.

She knocked on the door.

* * *

Richard Castle was insanely nervous. Ashley's parents had shown up at his apartment a few minutes earlier and they were already in an awkward silence.

He sat at the table with them in front of him, an empty seat to his left.

"When did you say that your lady friend would be here?" Ashley's father said. Rick inwardly laughed. Lady friend. Beckett would hate being called that.

"Any minute. And she's bringing dessert," Rick answered. As if on cue, the doorbell rang.

"That must be her," Castle said and got up to answer the door.

"Hey Castle. I brought the cookies that I didn't make," she said. As usual, she was looking effortlessly gorgeous, even in casual clothes.

"Hey Beckett. Come in, these are Ashley's parents, Rob and Kathy." He led her to the table, taking the cookies out of her hands and taking them into the kitchen.

"Hello, I'm Detective Kate Beckett," she said. She sat down in Rick's chair and pulled it up to the table.

"Beckett, that's my chair!" Castle whined like a little girl.

"Castle, build a bridge."

"So, Kate, how does a detective end up friends with a mystery writer?" Kathy asked. _Ah, this is a good story,_ Castle thought.

"Well, I work as an NYPD homicide detective. Three years ago, we got a case where a young woman was killed in the way that Castle killed someone in one of his books, so we called him in to help us," Kate started explaining.

"Yeah. Crazy psychopath killing innocent girls just for their money," Castle butted in. He still couldn't believe what some people did to each other. And just because of money.

"And then he decided that he had to base his next series off of me, so he called the mayor—"

"The Big Cheese," Castle interrupted.

"—who he has on speed dial, and had the mayor let him follow me around for 'book research.'" Kate put air quotes around 'book research.'

"You wound me, Detective. Maybe I will end up basing my next book off Esposito," Castle said, putting a hand over his heart in mock hurt.

Rob jumped in. "How long have you two been together?"

Kate did a perfect spit take, while Rick started choking on his cookie, which he stole early.

Rick recovered first. Then he looked at Kate with a smug grin on his face.

"Excuse me, but we aren't together," Kate said in a no-nonsense tone of voice.

"Well, you fooled us. You two act like an old married couple, arguing but not really meaning it," Kathy said.

Kate was about to say something when her phone rang.

"Beckett," she said, instantly switching back into work mode.

"_Yeah, Beckett, we just got the test results back from the last altitude chamber in the area. It's positive for Marie's tissues,"_ Esposito said from the precinct. Kate felt a bubble of joy build up inside her. Castle was wrong; aliens didn't kill her!

"Thank you Esposito. Check to see if there are any other DNA samples; possibly from the killer. And thank you for proving that Castle was wrong," she said.

"_Alright, boss. And tell me and Ryan how Castle takes the news tomorrow,"_ he said and hung up. Kate turned back towards the table, a grin evident on her face.

Everyone immediately noticed.

"Okay, Beckett, what did I get wrong, and why are you so smiley? Oh wait, that's probably why you're smiling; because I got something wrong," Castle said.

She sat down quickly and started talking.

"That was just Esposito and he told me that the last altitude chamber in our area of interest came back positive for Marie's tissue. You were wrong, Castle. She wasn't abducted by aliens." She finished, smiling at the frown on his face.

"Okay, I know you both are fluent in cop-talk, but we run-of-the-mill professors aren't. So if you could just repeat that sentence in English…" Kathy said, trailing off at the end.

"Sure. The case we're dealing with right now has a victim that was killed by explosive decompression, which is what happens when—" Rick started, still kind of pouting.

"You go into a zero atmosphere environment," Rob interrupted.

"And Rick thought that she was abducted by aliens. But the test results for all the machines that do explosive decompression in the area just came back and the last one tested positive for her tissue. So that's how she was killed, not by little green men," Kate finished.

"I told you, they're gray!" Castle said a little bit loudly.

"They could be purple and orange plaid for all I care. All that matters is that we are one step closer to solving this murder." Kate got up and grabbed the cookies. "Is it time for dessert yet? Being around Castle for more than nine hours a day makes me crave chocolate."

* * *

Next morning, Alexis walked drowsily down the stairs.

"Morning, Pumpkin," Rick said, kissing her cheek.

"Morning Dad. Kate told me all about your dinner with Rob and Kathy last night. And then Ashley told me that they seemed to like you. So I think you're in the black—" Alexis started.

"YES! VICTORY! I AM LIKED!" Castle yelled.

"Or at least Kate is," Alexis finished.

Castle pouted.

* * *

**Did you like it? I liked it. But I didn't like how it took me forever to actually get on to FanFiction. I kept clicking it and it wouldn't open. It made me mad. **

**So anyway. Sorry if you haven't seen this episode and I ruined what Castle was stressing about in it. **

**I HAVE A BEST FRIEND AND ITS NAME IS REVIEW!**

**Love you,**

**Rynni**


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